Vintage Eyes
by YouSentMeFlying
Summary: She used to be so assertive, but ever since she's gotten together with him, she's lost the entire utmost of confidence she once had about herself. "It will never happen again, love".


**New one shot before the Degrassi premiere tonight! It's just something I decided to write last night while relaxing from an awfully long day. It's a little cruel, but I felt like I needed to write this.**

**This story is rated M for obvious whys and wherefores. **

_It will never happen again, love._

The words echo through her mind, hitting her in the chest like a forceful two-by-four. It hurts because she knows it's her fault; she deserves everything she receives from him. It was her fault for going out with her friends without asking him first, and it was her fault for wearing too much clothing and little makeup. Whenever she hears those words, she can only break down since she's not strong enough. She used to be so assertive, but ever since she's gotten together with him, she's lost the entire utmost of confidence she once had about herself.

And as she lay there, her shaking palm softly caressing her already bruised cheek, she can't help but wonder what everything would be like if she never gave him a second chance. She could be married to a sweet guy and have two beautiful children right now. But of course, that was just a mere fantasy.

How could she be so stupid? How could she be senseless enough to be out a whole five minutes later than she'd promised him?

His gentle hands swooped down to help the poor girl up off of the floor; glass shattered beneath their feet from a broken wine glass Eli had thrown earlier. He could be so hotheaded half of the time, but the other half, he was the most amazing guy a girl could ever ask for.

"I'm so sorry for letting you down," Clare sobbed into her husband's heaving chest. "I should have never stayed out so late. I'm sorry!" a piercing migraine was pounding at the back of her head from where Eli had grabbed a handful of her auburn curls before throwing her to the floor moments ago.

"When I get home tomorrow, I expect you to have a nice dinner set up. Straighten your hair the way I like it. Make yourself look half-way presentable for once, eh?" Eli soothingly brushed his fingers through Clare's knotted hair which caused her to jolt out of instinct. She was afraid of him touching her ever since back in high school.

It started off mild; Eli getting jealous and slowly growing an obsession with the young girl. She wanted to ignore his strange behaviour; Clare figured he was just having a bad week and it would blow over.

But a few days went by and things steadily made a huge turn for the worse. After he forbid her to break off their relationship, she was feeling terrified; suffocated. Clare couldn't even stand to look at his heartless, pathetic, smug little face at that time. Again, Clare decided to dismiss his immaturity until the unthinkable happened; he grew a lot worse whenever he was around her.

Crashing his hearse into the side of an abandoned building to get her attention was when she recognized it was too much for her to handle at that age. It wasn't until he grabbed her brittle wrist and jerked her back – at the hospital – was when Clare came to the conclusion. He was abusive and she couldn't deal with that kind of environment.

They went a few months dealing with the breakup; dating other people once they both felt it was time for them to each more on. But both of them felt empty without each other.

Eli was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder, finally ending the relationship with a girl named Imogen who he felt he was only hurting – he never stopped thinking of Clare while he was with the other girl.

Another month or so passed by, both of them newly single after more awkward breakups. Clare assumed it would be alright to be friends with Eli once again. She saw how hurt he was over the entire mess and finally realized she completely overreacted during their breakup.

This next part was the biggest regret of her life; trusting Eli enough to give him a second chance. They'd gotten back together during a surprise birthday party he threw for her. It didn't take too long until Eli started back to his old aggressive ways. Starting random fights in the middle of her party, and being seen with other girls was the first thing Clare noticed. He didn't dare to touch Clare again… for another few months, anyway. After everything was resolved and seemed like they were having a pretty healthy relationship, they'd gotten engaged and married after Clare's senior year of high school.

Eli and Clare's first week of marriage was great, until he started regularly writing for _Gothic Tales_, his favourite comic, which was when everything changed. Eli grew frustrated with working so hard to meet his deadlines that he took it out on his wife. Even though everyone else could see his medication wasn't working for him, he thought they were doing just fine with taking a pill once a week.

"What the hell is this?" Eli shouted in Clare's reddened face. He'd just gotten home from a hard day at work to discover a steak and lobster dinner on his kitchen table. He asked for a nice dinner and that's exactly what Clare gave him. "I said I wanted a good dinner, not an expensive 'I-live-in-the-valley' dinner! We can't afford any of this shit!" He was yelling and screaming, the candles in the middle of the table slowly shrinking from the blaze of the hot flame. "When are you going to learn to do everything I say, you fucking failure?" his arm swung back, only for his fist to be lunched forward into the side of Clare's swollen face. She still hadn't healed from the incident last night, and several nights before.

All she could do now was laugh; she had to laugh since she didn't know how to react anymore. Eli's pulled this stunt so many times that she was beginning to literally lose her mind. "You think this is funny? Fucking up again, and again, and again; spending all of my hard earned cash?" he scoffed. "_I _work for that every fucking day! All you do is sit on your ass and prance around like a _slut_," he was referring to the new red lingerie she was currently wearing for him. "That's not your money to spend."

"Do you even hear yourself right now?" she spat in a shiver. Clare knew opening her mouth would only make things worse like it always has. Her pupils dilated in pure, cold fear. She knew what was coming and she couldn't stop it. Nothing she ever did would make him stop treating her the way he did. "You have no idea how much this side of you scares me."

"What did you say to me?" Eli hissed. He'd put up with all of her bullshit long enough. If she didn't screw every little thing up, he would have never had to punish her. Whatever happened was entirely her own doing – it was all on her, and Eli would never be to blame.

Eli's strong hands clamped around her weak wrists; he brought her chest closer to his. "You're a weak, vile, hideous creature! Look at me when I speak to you." She did just as instructed; she forced her glance to his dark and cruel eyes. Those were serial killer eyes. "You're lucky you have someone like me, willing enough to put up with you. No one else would ever want you; you're a fucking whore." Eli used the weight from his upper body to shove her back into the hot stove-top. She let out a vehement scream from her tight chest as she could feel her own skin melting to the cheap porcelain. It was no longer than a few seconds later until Eli knocked her to the floor, and she almost rejoiced at the fact of getting away from that stove. But she cried anyway; her body was shaking with each loud sob that burst out of her raw throat.

"Shut the fuck up!"

Clare wanted out; she would do anything to get away from the life she was living. But it was too late to go back now; it had gotten to the point where she would be "punished" for anything Eli didn't approve of, which was nearly everything.

Eli's foot landed into her side with great force; the poor helpless girl couldn't do anything but lie there and endure the excruciating pain he was putting her through – the pain that she _deserved._

Over her cries, Eli could hear the sound of a rib shatter beneath his foot, but he didn't seem to care about the pain she was in. Even after seeing a stream of blood pouring from the corner of her mouth, he still didn't care. All he cared about was being in control; he loved the adrenaline rush of being in charge.

"Stop being absurd," he spoke in a heavy breath once he'd finally stopped. Clare wished he could put her out of her misery. "It won't happen again, love," he whispered down at the quivering, broken woman before strutting back to his writing room.

_It won't happen again, love._

His words were filled with such despicable and wretched dishonesties.

Of course it would never fucking happen again.

**D: Now I must go finish my season 11 marathon before the new season starts tonight. Reviews would be much appreciated. ;)**


End file.
